Fairytale Morning

 “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. 

Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” 

― Roald Dahl

Hiding in the Tall Grass - Male Cardinal

 Light tomorrow with today. 

 ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Blue-winged Teal Couple

 "No road is long with good company." 

~ Turkish Proverb

Print Available - HERE 

The duck showing his blue wing - HERE 

Praying Mantis in the Flowers

 “How beautiful a day can be, 

when kindness touches it!” 

—George Elliston

Print Available - HERE 

  

Magic in the Garden - Monarch Butterfly

 Every moment possesses its own kind of magic. 

 ― Autumn Doughton

Prints and Cards available - HERE 

Jewelweed Embrace

 Instead of bracing yourself for the perils of the unknown, embrace the joy that is here, in your present moment. 

- Michelle Cruz-Rosado

Print Available - HERE 

Summer Sunshine - Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

 Exude happiness 

and you will feel it back a thousand times. 

 - Joan Lunden

Print Available - HERE 

Similar But Different - Iris in the Garden

 “Happiness held is the seed; 

 Happiness shared is the flower.”

 – John Harrigan

Print Available - HERE 

Sweet Sips of Summer - Hummingbird

 Choose being kind over being right, 

and you'll be right every time. 

—Richard Carlson

Print Available - HERE 

Blue on Black - Swallowtail Butterfly

 We change the world a little each day 

 with our kindness. 

~ Tom Giaquinto

Print Available - HERE 

Resting on a Water Lily - Dragonfly

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”

 - Seneca

Print available - HERE 

Marigold Merriment - Common Buckeye Butterfly

 “Do anything, but let it produce joy.” 

- Walt Whitman

Print Available - HERE 

Summer Hay

 “Take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.” 

 - Horace

Print Available - HERE 

Red White and Blue in the Garden

                                        God Bless America - by Irving Berlin 

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, 

 Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free. 

 Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, 

 As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. 

 God bless America, land that I love 

 Stand beside her and guide her 

 Through the night with the light from above 

 

From the mountains to the prairies 

 To the oceans white with foam 

 God bless America, my home sweet home 

 God bless America, my home sweet home.

Resting Sunshine

 “Outside the open window 

 The morning air is all awash with angels.” 

 ― Richard Wilbur

Print Available - HERE 

Summer Salutations - Pink Coneflower

 “I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days.” 

— Henry David Thoreau

Print Available - HERE 

Great Blue Heron Beak Close-up

 “See the light in others, 

and treat them as if that is all you see.” 

– Dr. Wayne Dyer

Print Available - HERE 

Claytor Lake Morning

 "Every day a million miracles begin at sunrise!"

  ~ Eric Jerome Dickey

Sunrise at Claytor Lake during our June 2024 vacation with family.

 It was a wonderful week! 

Print Available - HERE 

Pipevine on Purple

 "All dreams are within reach. 

All you have to do is keep moving towards them." 

— Viola Davis

Print Available - HERE 

Summer Moments with a Monarch Butterfly

 "The greatest thing about dreams is they don’t expire. They can lay dormant for years and when you pull them out and dust them off, they shine like new." 

 ― Casi McLean

Print Available - HERE 

Sunshine in the Wildflowers - American Goldfinch

 “In summer, the song sings itself.” 

—William Carlos Williams

Print Available - HERE 

Swallowtail Sweetie - Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

“There are two ways of spreading light: 

to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” 

—Edith Wharton

Print Available - HERE 

Peek-a-Boo Hummingbird

 “Happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it, but to delight in it when it comes.” 

 ―Charles Dickens

Print Available - HERE 

Tickling the Teasel - Swallowtail Butterfly

 “Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.”

 —Eleanor Roosevelt

Print Available - HERE 

Dragonfly Reflections

 “You can never know the ripple effect you create 

with one tiny gesture of kindness.” 

– Elle Sommer

Print Available - HERE 

I believe this is an Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly

Gray Catbird Bathing in the Sun

 “Every day, wake up with the thought that something wonderful is about to happen.” 

— Unknown

When searching for info on sunbathing birds I found the following: 

"When a bird spreads its wings in the sun, it's called sunbathing, basking, or sunning. This behavior is a maintenance routine for birds, and can help with feather maintenance."

Print Available - HERE 

Dove in the Shadows

 “The best life strategy? 

Be loving, be kind, be intentional, 

and be authentically you... " 

— Joél Leon

Print Available - HERE 

Snapping Turtle

“Everything has beauty, 

but not everyone sees it.”

 ― Confucius

A snapping turtle seen on our visit to Hethwood Pond

Blacksburg, Virginia 

June 9, 2024

They really do look prehistoric! 

On The Rocks - Green Heron

 All my life through, the new sights of Nature 

 made me rejoice like a child. 

 —Marie Curie

Hethwood Pond - Blacksburg, Virginia

June 9, 2024

Print Available - HERE

Hethwood Pond - Blacksburg Virginia

 “Walking is the ultimate travel adventure. 

You never know where your feet will take you.”

 — Richard A. Schmidt

A lovely view from our walk on Sunday, June 9, 2024.

Print Available - HERE 

Beauty in the Ordinary

 “We often neglect to find the beauty 

in things we see every day.” 

– Michelle C. Ustaszeski

Print Available - HERE 

Chicory

 “To be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — 

these are some of the rewards of the simple life.” 

— John Burroughs

Print Available - HERE 

Along the Huckleberry Trail - Railroad Tracks

 Somehow difficulties are easier to endure 

when you know your dream is waiting for you 

at the end. 

~ Lisa Mangum 

 Railroad Tracks along the Huckleberry Trail 

Christiansburg, Virginia

Jim and I have been walking a lot more lately. 

The weather has been fabulous and the views have been too.

Print available - HERE 

Transparent Wings - Hummingbird Moth

    “Life truly is precious. 

 Gather every moment of it into your arms 

 & embrace it.”

 ― Paula Abdul

Print Available - HERE 

Duskywing Butterfly in the Pink

 So many things become beautiful 

when you really look. 

~ Lauren Oliver

Print Available - HERE 

Delightful Damselfly

 Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful. 

~ A.R. Ammons

Print Available - HERE

Two of a Kind - Canada Geese

 "Kindness should become the natural way of life, 

not the exception." 

― Buddha 

Print Available - HERE 

Ghost Moth

A very tiny moth clinging to a plant (a type of wild grass?)

This is a highly cropped picture.  

The moth is actually about the size of a finger nail.

I do not know what type of moth it is, 

so ID help is appreciated!

EDIT - one of my contacts on social media helped to identify this as a Snowy Urola moth.  

Have a lovely day!

 

Tiny Worlds

 The obscure we see eventually. 

The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer. 

~ Edward R. Murrow

Print Available - HERE 

They Don't Stay Still Very Long - Tree Swallow

  “Rest and be thankful.” 

― William Wordsworth

Print Available - HERE 

Bird and Blooms - Gray Catbird

 "The world we live in is a fairyland of exquisite beauty, our very existence is a miracle in itself ..." 

 - John Lubbock

Print Available - HERE 

From Small Beginnings Come Great Things

  A Lily getting ready to bloom.

Print Available - HERE 

Caught Squawking - Red-winged Blackbird

 “You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart.”

– John Ford

Catbird in the Lavender

 "A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness."

- Albert Einstein

Print Available - HERE

The Importance of Family - Geese and Goslings

 “Family is not an important thing. 

It’s everything.” 

— Michael J. Fox

Print Available - HERE 

Red-winged Blackbird Perched on a Cattail

 “Days passing with discovery 

are the days of real happiness.” 

 ― Mehmet Murat Ildan

Red-winged Blackbird from a visit to a favorite pond.

Print Available - HERE 

Bird in the Buttercups

 “The world will never starve for want of wonders; 

but only for want of wonder.”

 ― G.K. Chesterton

Male Brown-headed Cowbird in the buttercups.

Time is Flying By

 “I've noticed that as I get older, 

time seems to fly by in hyper-speed. 

You blink, and a week has passed - 

blink again, and a year has gone by.” 

― Elle Kennedy

Red-winged Blackbird flies by - 04-27-24 

Happiness Shared

 “Happiness held is the seed; 

happiness shared is the flower.” 

- John Harrigan

Let The Sunshine In - Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

"Be happy for this moment. 

This moment is your life.” 

- Omar Khayyam

Print Available - HERE